in Roman antiquity, denotes provision for a year of all sorts, as of flesh, wine, &c. but especially of corn. Annona is likewise the allowance of oil, salt, bread, flesh, corn, wine, hay, and straw, which was annually provided by the contractors for the maintenance of an army.

the Cufard Apple: A genus of the polygynia order, belonging to the polyandria clas of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 52d order, Coadunate. The characters are: The calyx is a triphyllous perianthium: The corolla consists of five heart-shaped petals: The stamens have scarcely any filaments; the anthers are numerous, fitting on the receptaculum: The pistillum has a roundish germen; no styli; the stigmata obtuse and numerous: The pericarpium is a large roundish unilocular berry, covered with a scaly bark: The seeds are numerous.

Species. 1. The reticulata, or cufard-apple, is a native of the West-Indies, where it grows to the height of 25 feet, and is well furnished with branches on every side: the bark is smooth, and of an ash colour; the leaves are of a light green, oblong, and have several deep transverse ribs or veins, ending in acute points; the fruit is of a conical form, as large as a tennis-ball, of an orange colour when ripe, having a soft, sweet, yellowish pulp, of the consistence of a cufard, from whence it has its name. 2. The muricata, or four-top, rarely rises above 20 feet high, and it is not so well furnished with branches as the other; the leaves are broader, have a smooth surface without any furrows, and are of a shining green colour: the fruit is large, of an oval shape, irregular, and pointed at the top, of a greenish yellow colour, and full of small knobs on the outside: the pulp is soft, white; and of a sour and sweet taste intermixed, having many oblong, dark-coloured... loured seeds. 3. The squamosa, or sweet sop, seldom rises higher than 15 feet, and well furnished with branches on every side. The leaves have an agreeable scent when rubbed; the fruit is roundish and scaly, and when ripe turns of a purple colour, and hath a sweet pulp. 4. The palustris, or water-apple, grows to the height of 50 or 40 feet. The leaves are oblong, pointed, with some slender furrows, and have a strong scent when rubbed; the fruit is seldom eaten but by negroes. The tree grows in moist places in all the West-India islands. 5. The cherimola, with oblong scaly fruit, is a native of Peru, where it is much cultivated for the fruit, and grows to be a very large tree well furnished with branches. The leaves are of a bright green colour, and much larger than those of any of the other sorts. The fruit is oblong, and scaly on the outside, of a dark purple colour when ripe, and the flesh is soft and sweet, intermixed with many brown seeds which are smooth and shining. 6. The Africana, with smooth bluish fruit. 7. The Asiatica, or purple apple. This grows in some of the French islands, as also in Cuba, in great plenty. The trees rise to the height of 30 feet or more. The fruit is esteemed by the inhabitants of those islands, who frequently give them to sick persons. 8. The triloba, or North-American annona, called by the inhabitants papaw, is a native of the Bahama islands, and likewise of Virginia and Carolina. The trunks of the trees are seldom bigger than the small of a man's leg, and are about 10 or 12 feet high, having a smooth greenish-brown bark. In March, when the leaves begin to sprout, the blossoms appear, consisting of six greenish-white petals. The fruit grows in clusters of three, and sometimes of four together; when ripe, they are yellow, covered with a thin smooth skin, which contains a yellow pulp of a sweet luscious taste. In the middle of this pulp, lie in two rows twelve seeds, divided by as many thin membranes. All parts of the tree have a rank, if not a fetid, smell; nor is the fruit relished by many except negroes. These trees grow in low shady swamps, and in a very fat soil.

Culture. The last sort will thrive in the open air in Britain, if it is placed in a warm and sheltered situation; but the plants should be trained up in pots, and sheltered in winter for two or three years till they have acquired strength. The seeds frequently remain a whole year in the ground; and therefore the earth in the pots ought not to be disturbed, though the plants do not come up the first year. If the pots where those plants are sown are plunged into a new hot-bed, they will come up much sooner than those that are exposed to the open air. All the other sorts require to be kept in a warm stove, or they will not live in this country.

ANNONAE prefectus, in antiquity, an extraordinary magistrate, whose business it was to prevent a scarcity of provision, and to regulate the weight and fineness of bread.